The monarch in british Parliament

In Britain, new laws are made by the monarch in Parliament – in other words, by the three-headed creature made up of the two houses of Parliament – the House of Commons and House of Lords – plus the sovereign. The most powerful of these three parts is the House of Commons, the elected chamber of Parliament where new laws are made and debated. The House of Lords revises and debates the new laws. The monarch merely approves new laws on the advice of his or her ministers, who themselves are members of the House of Commons or Lords.
Because the ministers come up with the new laws in the first place, and these laws are passed by a majority in Parliament, it stands to reason that the ministers advise the monarch to give her assent to them. And the sovereign hasn’t refused his or her assent for more than 200 years. It sounds as if the king or queen’s role is purely formal.
So is the monarch just a rubber stamp? Well, not quite. The British king or queen still has the right to advise the ministers. Monarch and ministers meet regularly, and the sovereign may encourage or warn them about any new law they’re thinking of passing. Generations of Prime Ministers have said how helpful it is to get the advice of monarchs, who after all are often people who have been around far longer than they have. The Prime Minister and ruler meet regularly, and even if the ruler doesn’t have any tangible power, he or she has a lot of influence.
The monarch also has two formal roles in relation to Parliament. These roles are more symbolic, but they show that the ruler is still very much at the forefront of government. These roles relate to the opening and closing of Parliament:
_ The monarch opens each session of Parliament personally, and a key part of the opening ceremony is the Queen’s or King’s Speech, which outlines the programme of new laws to be debated during the coming session. Of course, the queen doesn’t write this speech herself. It’s put together by her ministers. But this ceremony still shows that the queen is at the heart of government.
_ When the time comes for Parliament to be closed – when an election is due – the Prime Minister travels to Buckingham Palace and asks the monarch for permission to close Parliament. Again, the sovereign is at the heart of things, even if his or her role is ceremonial. One thing a reigning British monarch never does is cast a vote in an election. In theory, nothing stops the king or queen from voting. But in practice, casting a vote would be unconstitutional, because the sovereign is outside politics and able to function whatever the political colour of the government. The same goes for the heir to the throne, who will one day have to play the same politically neutral role. Other members of the royal family, such as the Duke of Edinburgh, are theoretically able to vote, but they don’t. For them to put their weight behind a political party would compromise the neutrality of the monarch. And as far as the monarchy is concerned, whatever the personal political views of the members of the royal family, neutrality is all.